The Lovereading4Kids comment

The dragonological adventure continues in this eagerly-awaited second instalment of The Dragonology Chronicles. An illness has spread among the dragons and Daniel and Beatrice must deliver a strange book to Dr. Drake so that the cure that lies therein can be put to good use but the evil Gorynytchka lies in their way. Full of action-packed adventure and strange goings-on it will be just as addictive as the first volume in the series - The Dragon's Eye.

A message from the Publisher:

'Looking for proper
old-fashioned storytelling, an amazing fantasy adventure, stunning
illustrations and plenty of dragons? The Dragonology Chronicles has
them all and dragonology fans simply cannot get enough of them'.

For all dragon enthusiasts, do you think you could be the Ultimate Ologist? If so then click on to www.ologyworld.com to find out more.

Synopsis

In the second instalment of this acclaimed series, a mysterious illness is spreading among dragons. The fate of dragonkind rests in the hands of Daniel and Beatrice – can they reach Dr. Drake and work out the cure, or will they fall into the clutches of the evil Alexandra Gorynytchka?

Where did the idea for Dragonology and the Dragonology Chronicles originally come from?

The idea of Dragonology came about because Templar Publishing wanted to do a big interactive book on dragons and Mandy Wood and I thought it would be a great idea to base it on the “rediscovered” work of an eccentric Victorian natural historian who believed that dragons were real. The eccentric scientist’s name “Ernest Drake” and his science, “Dragonology”, just seemed to come naturally as part of the letter that is inserted into the front of the book, which was the very first part to be written. When Dragonology became a big success, lots of children wrote to Templar saying that they wanted to hear more about Dr. Drake, and that is how the idea of doing the Dragonology Chronicle novels came about.

The Dragonology dragon I’d like to meet most would be a European dragon named Torcher—the one that Daniel and Beatrice hatch out of the egg in the Dragon Diary. The Dragonology Chronicles are set in late Victoria times, but dragons have such long life spans that there is every chance that he is still around—so keep your eyes open!

That’s an interesting one! Scientists are constantly discovering things and so who knows if one day they will discover evidence of a large, winged lizard-like predators, although I have to say I would be very surprised if they found out they could breathe fire, too!

Dragons look fabulous, fly, breathe fire, hoard treasure, and they are really powerful—more than a match for most humans. However, they do have a gentler side, if you know how to approach them in the right way. They can make excellent friends and allies, but you should never try to tame one—they are wild through and through, and that’s the way they want to remain!

I read as many dragon myths and legends as I could, and I looked at images of dragons from different cultures around the world. Then I thought: what if dragons were like other real creatures? In that case they, like other creatures, would naturally have evolved into a wide range of different species, with widely differing appearances and habits, each one perfectly suited to being the top predator in the habitat in which it lived.

I’d quite like to go back to medieval times and speak to the famous explorer Marco Polo. He travelled half way around the world during a time when most Europeans knew so little about what lay outside their own villages, let alone their countries, and he saw and experienced so many wonderful things that I think he’d be a fascinating person to speak to!

That’s an unfair question—there are too many places! For example I like Barcelona, New York, the Nile, the highlands of Scotland, Crete, the Pyrenees and my home.

After surviving far-flung adventures in the Dragon Diary, Daniel and Beatrice must face danger much closer to home than they ever imagined. It’s a race against the clock and one that they must win with less help than they have ever had before, against a very cunning enemy indeed. But it’s not finished yet, and so I shall say no more!

About the Author

Dugald A. Steer was born in 1965 and lives in Surrey. His love of books and reading led him to study English Literature and Philosophy at Bristol University where he was an avid contributor to the Poetry Society Magazine. After stints working for Friends of the Earth and the Duchy of Lancaster Office, Dugald trained to teach English and spent the next five years in Spain, living in Galicia and Andalucia, writing in his spare time.

Dugald Steer now works as a freelance author for Templar Publishing, for whom he worked as an inhouse writer and editor for ten years. He has written a large number of books, including Mythical Mazes, Scary Fairies, An Accidental Christmas, Just One More Story and The Night Tiger among others. He has also made contributions to many of Templar’s best known series’, including Maurice Pledger’s Peek and Find series, and Derek Matthews’ highly successful Happy Snappy® series, for which he has written many books. He has edited many other books, has created Picture This... and Alphabet with Alison Jay and has also written The Toys’ Easter Surprise and the Little Mouse series. Dugald has wrote the handbook How to Be a Knight which he recently followed up with How to be an Explorer. Dugald Steer is the author of the hugely successful Ology™ series that includes Dragonology™ and Monsterology™ (writing as Dr. Ernest Drake), Egyptology (as Emily Sands), Wizardology™ (as the wizard Merlin!), Pirateology™ (as Capt. William Lubber) and Mythology (as Lady Hestia Evans), as well as the Ology™ handbooks, model packs, field guides and the Dragonology™ Pocket Adventures. After the success of The Dragon’s Eye, Dug is working on the forthcoming second novel in The Dragonology™ Chronicles – The Dragon Diary, as well as the top-secret seventh title in the Ology series!

‘In the library with Dugald Steer’ - quick fire questions and answers from the author of the Ology books